Electronic Investor

An Investment Primer

What do you need to know before you start investing on your own? Here are some basics for the newcomer.

I'm frequently asked for resources for beginning investors. In my column I usually assume a certain familiarity with investing concepts and use of the Internet. But for my next two columns, I'll walk through the basics of what you should know to get started as an -- independent, self-directed investor.

Your success as an investor, whether off-line or online, depends on your attitude. "Money ranks with love as man's greatest source of joy, and with death as his greatest source of anxiety," said economist John...